Roasted Garlic Baked Ricotta

This roasted garlic baked ricotta is deceptively simple to make yet tastes luxuriously rich and flavourful. Roast the garlic in advance and you can have it ready in under 30 minutes!

I just love homemade dips. They’re most often made with fresh, readily available ingredients and/or a handful of pantry staples, and are usually a little healthier than their store-bought counterparts. A game day staple for us all fall and winter long, this baked ricotta with roasted garlic is quick and easy to make with just a handful of ingredients that I always have in my pantry at home.

What is Ricotta?

Ricotta is a soft cheese similar to cottage cheese, but with a finer texture. It’s a secondary production cheese that’s made with leftover milk whey after the production of other cheeses, and its texture is ideal for pastries or creamy pasta dishes as a filler like in my family favourite Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Shells. We love it simply spread on toast with fresh or grilled fruit, fresh herbs like thyme or basil and a drizzle of honey. Sooo so good.

Why Roast the Garlic?

If you’ve ever tried my Roasted Garlic Hummus or Rosemary & Roasted Garlic Artisan Bread you already know how much we love roasted garlic. Known for its richly sweet flavour profile and wide range of health benefits, in this recipe it is the earthy, sweetly fragrant star of show.

For this recipe I’ve used lots of creamy whole milk ricotta cheese as a base combined with home-roasted garlic, nutty Parmesan, fresh lemon and lots of aromatic rosemary, thyme and lemon zest. All brought together in one bowl then baked until bubbling and golden.

Here’s What You’ll Need to Make This Roasted Garlic Baked Ricotta

• 1 whole head garlic
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher or fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Whole milk ricotta cheese
• Parmesan
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Lemon juice
• Lemon zest
• Smoked paprika
• Chili flakes
• Crusty baguette, crostini or warm pita bread for serving

I’ve included tips for making this dip ahead of time as well as home-roasted garlic alternatives in the recipe card. You can also find my recipe for homemade Garlic Confit here!

Equally at home whether served as a game day snack or as part of your next holiday menu, this roasted garlic baked ricotta dip is seriously cozy, melty, cheesy perfection. It will have everyone begging for your recipe!

4 More Dip Recipes to Love

Tuscan White Bean Dip

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Cucumber Dill Tzatziki

Roasted Garlic Baked Ricotta

Made with lots of nutty Parmesan, fresh lemon, rosemary and thyme all mixed together then baked until bubbling and golden. Equally at home whether served as a game day snack or as part of your next holiday menu, it's deceptively simple to make yet tastes luxuriously rich and flavourful!

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Total Time:1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Keyword: baked, dip, ricotta, roasted garlic

Servings: 8

Equipment

• Measuring set
• Cutting board
• Fine grater/zester
• Mixing bowl set
• Baking sheet
• Small baking dish or skillet

Ingredients

Roasted Garlic

• 1 whole head of garlic
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher or fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Baked Ricotta

• 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more to finish
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
• Chili flakes and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 crusty baguette thinly sliced, crostini or warm pita bread for serving

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• To roast the garlic, first slice the garlic head in half. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and roast on a baking sheet at 400ºF (204ºC) for 40 minutes. Let cool, remove cloves from their skins and set aside.
• Preheat oven to oven to 425ºF (220ºC).
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined. (Take care not to over mix, you want to see nice bits of roasted garlic throughout!) Transfer to a ½ litre oven-safe baking dish or a small skillet and top with more Parmesan cheese and crushed pepper.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until bubbling and golden. Next, move baking dish to top rack and turn oven to broil then broil for 2-3 minutes until browned, keeping a close eye so as not to over cook.
• Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool. Before serving, drizzle a little more olive oil across the top and garnish with extra thyme leaves and chili flakes. Surround with baguette or crostini and serve immediately while still warm.

Notes

Roasted garlic: If using jarred roasted garlic, 5 teaspoons is roughly equivalent to a standard 10-clove head of garlic. Garlic may also be prepared by frying the peeled cloves with a little olive oil in a shallow sauce pan until softened and slightly caramelized. To save roasted garlic for later, let the garlic cool then discard the skins. Leftover garlic cloves may be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to a month.

Make ahead: The ricotta mixture can be assembled the day before. Simply refrigerate overnight – minus the olive oil – then bring to room temperature and stir in olive oil just before baking.

Leftovers: Baked ricotta is at its best fresh from the oven. To reheat, stir in a little more olive oil and microwave at 20-second intervals until warmed through. Tip: Leftover baked ricotta is delicious spread on toast, in sandwiches or as a dip for chopped veggies!